What an incredible opportunity I was given to meet this phenomenal family on Monday! I was contacted by my friend, Ashley (aka Ingram’s mom), a few weeks ago about a friend of hers she has met through their days together at St.Jude with two little 4-year-old boys that are fighting the battle of their lives at St.Jude. Ashley told me that Reid’s mom, Amy, had fallen in love with our city’s Botanic Gardens and really wanted some portraits made there. Ashley thought I might could help and I gave an enthusiastic “YES!”. And, Reid and his family were such a blessing to me! The guys had me laughing the entire time, and I loved how Amy just laughed right along with them. 🙂

Reid was diagnosed with spindle cell sarcoma behind his left eye in July 2012 which resulted in the loss of his left eye. He recently finished his treatments including 7 rounds of chemo and 9 radiation treatments. While they were in town last week, he had his first post treatment scans last Thursday. The scans were clear!!!! Though this family lives in Louisiana, they will return to St.Jude every 3 months for scans for one year. Then it will go to every 6 months and eventually annual check ups. What an inspiring example of courage this little man is! And, big brother Wyatt…the strong silent type! He had me laughing the whole time with his funny one-liners and jokes. Mom and Dad, Amy and Lance, are so laid back and easy going. We had a wonderful time just being together and enjoying the moment.

Although we haven’t known each other that long, this awesome family had a way of making me fall in love with their joy and courage and the love they had for one another. The kind of family that we all wish we could be in our darkest days. Lance and Amy, you have two beautiful boys whose smiles and laughter are just the BEST! I know you are so extremely proud of them. Thank you for the opportunity to share in your journey and celebrate  clean scans with you! You have made an impact on me that  I will not soon forget! In reading this quote the other day, your family immediately came to my mind: “Anyone can give up, it’s the easiest thing in the world to do. But to hold it together when everyone else would understand if you fell apart, that’s true strength.” – Unknown 

I just LOVE this smile! 🙂 Meet Reid…

And, this next heartbreaker, Wyatt! Precious…you can tell these little men love their momma! 
These are their “tough” faces! Haha!
Dad gets some big smiles, too!
Gotta love the tounge in this next one. Silly boys! 🙂  To find out more of how to support St.Jude in their fight to end childhood cancer, please visit their website, http://www.stjude.org/ Reid and his family thank you! 🙂

What a fun family…love this bunch!! I haven’t seen Andrew and Emily since he was just days old at his newborn session back in October. Such a big boy now, and full of smiles, giggles, and cute little grins. He sure does looooove his Momma and his sister, too.  This was the perfect way to start out my Monday morning, and just loved our results. Just fun and loving all around!! 🙂

Team Davis…love it! That is what this Mom calls her crew, and what a team they are! I’ve been photographing these two cuties since they were both newborns and just a few days old. It is so hard for me to believe how very big they both are now. They have got the best smiles and so much love shared between them. What an amazing family! Thanks for continuing to share your family with me and giving me the joy of documenting your memories for you through the years. What a beautiful group! Love you guys! 🙂

WOW! This session was so much fun! I’ve been working with these two little loves since they were both little bitty babies. Can hardly believe that Nora is starting Kindergarten in August, and that Allie is two. Time really does go by so very quickly. I consider this sweet family not just clients, but my friends! It’s the best to get hugs at the beginning of a session because its like meeting up with old friends, and then getting them again at the end of the session because you had so much fun together and are grateful for the smiles and laughter that just transpired. So happy to continue to document their growing up years. Love, love, love these images and this great family! 🙂

Love these ones of Allie in her hat! Hat photos are so much fun!!

These girls…so pretty! I just couldn’t stop blogging them! 🙂

Camille is a little over one year old and she is beautiful! For Easter, she wore a “vintage” dress that belonged to her aunt when she was a child that was made Camille’s Grandmother. Beautiful! And, a bonnet, too! Swoon! Momma wanted photographs to mark the occasion, and I am so glad. Oh, wow! I love it when they make me work for it!! haha! Usually, this is when we make magic happen! Precious Camille definitely made her Momma and I earn our keep at her session. We started out the session barely being able to grab her attention at all, and when we did, it ended up with some very serious and solemn portraits. Which, truthfully, I adore soooo much. Big ol’ eyes and a look into the soul, this I love!! See what I mean below, love!

Gorgeous, right? Then, finally we got her warmed up a bit and then, magic! Love, love, love these next few soo much!

Absolute favorite below!! HAHA!

And, then, we switched gears quickly to grab a few mother/daughter shots! This series of the two of them laughing is just the best! And, there’s more from this group, too. They just make me SMILE big!!

Beautiful ladies! Thanks for a wonderful morning!

This was what we saw for most of Griffin’s session…him walking (or running!) away from me and my camera! haha! But, you know, I still LOVE this photo soo much. The sweetness of his curls and little bare feet. Looks so sweet and innocent doesn’t it? Love! Little Griffin had one purpose for this session and it was for me to capture him at 2-years-old for his portrait to match with his 3 older siblings. He is adorable and he is busy! 🙂 Love this kid. I adore his big eyes and precious smile and the way he liked for his mom and I to sing to him. Who knew our singing could make him stop in his tracks…is that a good thing? HA! Love what we ended up with, and that he made us work to get it! Even Mom and big sis Emily joined in on the fun,too! Precious family! Enjoy!

These next few are my favorites because there is an old antique fire truck behind him, and dad works for the Fire Department! Kinda cool, I think!

Aren’t they all just a beautiful family!

Aren’t these sisters just absolutely adorable? I almost named this post Adorable Ali and Ava, but then I thought that might be a bit much! 🙂 But, seriously, aren’t they?? Loved working with these two cuties and their great Mom! Big sister Ali, has the best little smile and was always doing such a good job holding up and watching out for her little sister. So very sweet and kind-hearted! And, little Miss Ava is just precious. I loved her little two teeth that show when she smiles and her big ol’ grin was to die for. Such a fun morning with beautiful little ladies. Doesn’t get much sweeter than that! Thanks for sharing your girls with me. Enjoy your sneak peek!

Big sister, Ali!

Precious little sister, Ava!

Sister love…

I am SOOO happy for this beautiful family! My sweet friends, Jennifer and Scott, just welcomed their 4th child into the world last week. What a privilege to get to photograph 6-day-new Luke! He is was absolutely perfect angel for his session, and his big sisters and brother were wonderful as well. It’s not often that you get four children to cooperate so beautifully. This is such a beautiful family! What a wonderful gift Luke is to their family already! I loved so many photos from this session, I truly had a hard time narrowing them down for the sneak peek. He’s just beautiful…have I said that yet? Congratulations to all of you! Luke, you’ve got a wonderful family that God has given to you. 🙂 You are a blessed little boy!
Love, love, love these sibling shots! Even sweet 2-yr-old Isabella was a champ! Loved her shouting my name all afternoon…”Jewwwwieeee”! 🙂

And, still more of beautiful Luke! Just couldn’t get enough of this angel!

Yep! When the first shot of a session starts out like this, you know you are in for some FUN!! Sweet Lyla is having her very first birthday this month, this photo session was to mark the occasion! I immediately fell in love with her precious smile, complete with the most adorable dimples!! And, those big eyes and cute chunky baby legs…come on y’all…precious! 🙂 Thank you for sharing your sweet baby girl with me. What a joy to share in her smiles and laughter. She is just a little angel! Happy birthday, sweet girl!

The last time that I remember seeing Miss Meredith, it was a beautiful beginning of summer day and she was only just a few days old. I remember pulling up to her house,and seeing this beautiful patch of ivy and blue hydrangeas and knew we needed to do a newborn shot there. This was our result then, two years ago:

And, this next one is Meredith in some beautiful green grass on a beautiful spring day two years later! It is soo much fun for me to see these babies grow. Meredith’s mom and dad both told me that she isn’t a big “smiler” so, of course, I made it my personal mission to make sure we got a few! But, I also loved her BIG beautiful eyes, so expressive and gorgeous especially on the more serious shots. We had a wonderful morning together, and I am so grateful to this sweet family for continuing to share their family with me and allow me to capture memories for them. Happy 2nd Birthday to you, Meredith! 🙂